The Nigerian government has launched Operation Restore Peace, designed to destroy the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group in support of independence for the former breakaway Republic of Biafra, and its security wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). According to Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba, the security services are not to be constrained by human rights considerations.

On the occasion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second inauguration, Amnesty International has issued a report, “Nigeria: Human Rights Agenda,” a twenty-page indictment of human rights violations by ”state and non-state actors,” but with the emphasis on the state security services. It calls on the Buhari administration to address perennial human rights abuses and makes specific recommendations as to what needs to be done. 

Protests in Nigeria against police are being supported by the Nigerian diaspora, which is linking them to Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the United States and Europe. The focus of the current demonstrations is the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

On February 23, President Muhammadu Buhari was elected to a second term, defeating the chief opposition candidate and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar. As always, there was more violence associated with the elections than received attention in the Western media, but fortunately there was no spike when the Independent National Elections Commission (INEC) announced the results. Despite the elections’ significant shortcomings, most Nigerians appear to accept the results. 

Obasanjo’s statement is significant for its apparently clear-eyed assessment of the current state of Nigerian governance, as well as its harsh criticism of his successors, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari. It is also indicative of the widespread reassessment of Nigeria’s political institutions now underway across the country.